CAMPING
ARKANSAS, TENNESSEE, NORTH CAROLINA
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Tick Fever:
Lymes and HGE (human ehrlichiosis) (HGE is more common than previously believed and can be disabling or fatal)
HGE does not cause the bulls eye rash normally seen with Lymes. Authorities caution to treat for HgE while awaiting blood test results, especially is no bulls eye rash.
The following is from several sources and covers both humans and dogs:
Ehrlichiosis
Hot off the press from CDC 4-2002
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol8no4/01-0222.htm
There has been at least one confirmed case in Sharp County Arkansas(Baptist Northeast Regional) and one in Northern Mississippi that I know of) (he died)
FROM VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS:
These are classified as emerging diseases, since they have only recently been recognized. Human ehrlichiosis (HE) was first identified in 1986 and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) in 1993. Over 400 cases of HE (nine fatal) have been reported from 30 of the 50 US states, primarily in the southeastern and south-central portions of the country. HGE occurs more frequently further north. As of early 1996, fewer than 100 confirmed cases of HGE had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Of these, four were fatal. As with any other tick-borne illness (TBI), American examples are used only because they were conveniently available when this was written. TBIs are no respecters of international borders.
Two members of the Erlichiae family of bacteria are known to cause illness in humans. The majority of the Erlichiae family are veterinary pathogens.
The signs and symptoms of both types of human ehrlichiosis are identical, including fever, a headache that will not respond to normal analgesic treatment, malaise (feeling poorly), muscle aches, chills, sweating, nausea, and vomiting. Less often, patients will also have other symptoms, such as cough, joint pain, confusion, and a rash. The rash can occur anywhere on the body, and is not necessarily associated with the tick bite site. The symptomology can also mimic leukemia, particularly in the HGE form of the disease. Elderly patients (more than 60 years old) are more likely to develop severe infections, and account for the majority of deaths associated with ehrlichiosis. However, serious complications can develop in any age group.
Many of these symptoms are shared with Lyme disease, so misdiagnosis is possible. Unfortunately, ehrlichiosis responds to a far narrower range of antibiotics that Lyme disease does, so treatment with the wrong medication is also possible. Doxycycline is the preferred antibiotic.
The most commonly affected body systems are the liver, spleen, bone marrow, and lymph nodes.
Treatment should not be delayed while awaiting laboratory results. Waiting only makes a serious, possibly fatal, infection more likely. If a patient is being treated for Lyme disease, and HE or HGE without Lyme disease is the final diagnosis, the medications being used can always be changed, if necessary. After appropriate treatment begins, the fever normally abates within 24-48 hours. However, the complete course of treatment is quite a bit longer..
(Taken from The Wall Street Journal - 8/17/95)
A new hazard is joining sand traps and ponds on the nation's golf courses.
The hazard is a little-known disease borne by ticks, and it threatens not only golfers but almost anyone else who ventures into the woods, especially in the South. The disease is the second obscure tick-borne illness to grab the attention of epidemic experts in the last several months.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that they analyzed a 1993 outbreak of a tick-borne disease called human ehrlichiosis at a retirement community in Tennessee with several golf courses.
Golfers who searched for errant balls off the fairway into the woods were almost four times more likely to show evidence of past infection with the potentially fatal disease than those who played new balls.
Perhaps more seriously, the same scientists reported that the little-known disease might be more common than previously realized. Only about 400 cases of the flu-like ehrlichiosis have been confirmed nation-wide since the ailment was identified in 1987. But 12.5% of the 3,000 retirees in the Tennessee community showed evidence of previous infection by the ehrlichiosis bacterium, Vanderbilt University's William Schaffner and his colleagues report in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.
Eleven of these residents developed full-blown cases of the disease, and several required long hospital stays. This rate of illness was 200 times higher than in previous studies, Dr. Schaffner's team reports.
"My guess is that this is more common than Lyme disease in the southern U.S.," said Sam Telford, a parisitologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. Cases also have been reported in the Northeast and Midwest. The ailment is carried by the Lone Star tick, one of the more common ticks in the Southeast.
ehrlichiosis is easy to misdiagnose, because its initial symptoms - fever, headache, and nausea - resemble many other maladies, including Lyme disease. Unlike Lyme disease, though, it almost never causes skin rash. If untreated, the disease often rapidly worsens, and can cause kidney and respiratory failure. Moreover, the ailment responds to only one of several antibiotics that are used for treating Lyme disease - so a misdiagnosis could have serious consequences.
Human ehrlichiosis isn't the only new tick scourge golfers and hikers have to worry about. A sister disease, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, was identified last year. It garnered headlines in recent months after causing outbreaks - and a few deaths - in the upper Midwest and New York. Just this week, Harvard's Dr. Telford and his colleagues verified the first case in Massachusetts. HGE is carried by the same deer tick that causes Lyme disease.
West Coast residents aren't off the hook, either. Earlier this year, another team of researchers verified that four California residents had been infected with a new version of tick-borne babesiosis, a malaria like malady. Until recently, babesiosis was thought to reside only in the eastern part of the country.
Virginia Tech Entomology Department
Comments to:
INFORMATION FOR CONSUMERS
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
CENTER FOR VETERINARY MEDICINE
The following consumer information is provided by Sandra Woods, D.V.M.,
Division of Drugs for Non-Food Animals, Center for Veterinary Medicine
INFORMATION ON PREVALENT TICK-BORNE DISEASES
Among the many tick-borne diseases which are transmitted to man and animals, three stand out as most prevalent. Each of these diseases occurs seasonally in the United States--most incidences occurring in summer and fall. People and animals that spend a lot of time outside in wooded areas are most likely to be affected.
The following symptoms for each disease are common to humans and animals with minor exceptions. For example, a rash is not easily found in animals.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
This disease is caused by Rickettsia rickettsii, a microorganism which is usually transmitted by Ixodidae (hard ticks). The species most commonly involved are Dermacentor andersoni (wood tick), Dermacentor variabilis (dog tick), and Amblyomma americanum (Lone-Star tick of the southern United States, particularly Texas and Louisiana).
Man, dogs and cats, farm animals, and wildlife species are affected. People should examine themselves and their pets for ticks after each trip outside. The onset of symptoms may be abrupt. Common symptoms are fever, chills, severe headaches, muscle pains, and a rash.
The mortality rate for Rocky Mountain spotted fever is less than 10 percent if an antibiotic is started promptly. Some patients may require supportive therapies, such as intravenous fluids, steroids, and nasogastric feedings. Improvement should be rapid (36 to 48 hours). The exact treatment should be determined by the animal's veterinarian or, in the case of a human, a personal physician.
Tick Paralysis
This disease is most commonly caused by female hard ticks of the Dermacentor species. Both man and animal may be affected; the animals most affected are dogs, cattle, and sheep.
A flaccid paralysis progresses from the back to the front of the affected animal and is due to a toxin injected when the ticks feed. Paralysis is most likely to occur from prolonged feeding and bites located along the spine, neck, or head in people as well as animals.
Symptoms include anorexia, lethargy, muscle weakness, lack of coordination, and nystagmus (involuntary, rapid movement of the eyeball).
Bite sites should be cleansed with soap and water. If bare hands are used to remove the tick, care must be taken to avoid squeezing as this may inject more toxin. Hands should be washed immediately after disposing of the tick. If the bite wounds are inflamed or look infected, an antibiotic and steroid ointment can be applied. It's a good idea to consult a veterinarian on the proper way to remove and dispose of ticks on pets. Never use a lit cigarette or matches to disengage the tick because of the obvious danger of a serious burn to the animal.
If respiratory or cardiac arrest has not occurred, removal of the tick(s) usually leads to rapid and complete recovery.
Lyme Disease
This disease, named after the small town of Lyme, Connecticut where a group of people were initially affected in 1975, is the most prevalent disease transmitted by ticks in the U.S. It is caused by a spirochete called Borrelia burgdorferi and has been reported in wildlife (moose, elk, and deer), cattle and horses, dogs and cats, and man. Cases have been diagnosed in most States with a high incidence along the Eastern seaboard, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
The ticks that transmit this disease are very small, the size of sesame seeds as adults, and in approximately 30 percent of the confirmed cases, no tick bites can be documented.
Symptoms include a bull's-eye rash in about 70 percent of human patients, malaise, fatigue, joint pains, neurological signs, cardiac abnormalities, and arthritis. Patients develop antibody titers to the disease, but a single test is difficult to interpret. Rising titers with clinical signs indicate infection and should be treated with systemic antibiotics for 10 days or longer.
Both the veterinarian and family physician should be notified if either a member of the family or a pet develops symptoms after visiting an area where ticks may live. Most patients recover if they receive prompt treatment. A small percentage of cases require prolonged treatment for recovery, or fail to respond.
In conclusion, the symptoms of these three tick-borne diseases can be easily confused; therefore, both veterinarians and physicians need to carefully investigate all patients with vague flu-like symptoms. With a few simple precautions, people and pets should be able to enjoy outside activities and be protected against tick-borne diseases.
People
1. Use a good tick repellent before participating in outside activities.
2. If possible, avoid areas with heavy brush, low-hanging tree limbs or long grass.
3. After returning home, remove all clothing worn outside and launder in hot water and soap.
4. Examine yourself carefully after all outside activities.
5. Treat your home environment (inside and outside) at regular intervals during the tick season to reduce the tick population.
Total elimination of ticks is unlikely due to natural reservoirs such as mice, birds, deer, and other wildlife.
6. Cut the grass around your house and remove brush and low tree limbs to decrease tick habitat and wildlife use of your property.
Animals
1. Have your veterinarian set up your tick control plan.
2. Use flea and tick sprays as directed to avoid overdosing.
3. Rotate flea products based on active ingredients rather than brand names to prevent resistance.
4. Examine pets for ticks after each outing and remove ticks as directed by your veterinarian.